The researchers say redemptive narratives "encompass the idea
that negative life events or circumstances can be meaningful
points in individuals' lives that result in positive outcomes or
silver linings."

In other words,
it's a story that outlines how you turned suffering - in this
case, a breakup - into a positive experience. Maybe, for example,
you learned something important about yourself or relationships
in general.

To test the effectiveness of redemptive narratives, the
researchers recruited about 100 adults who had recently gone
through a breakup to participate in a four-day online daily diary
study.

Specifically, they were interested in whether redemptive
narratives or a strategy called "cognitive processing" could help
people deal with breakups. Cognitive processing involves changing
your interpretation of a negative emotional event.

For the study, one-third of participants were told to journal
from a self-focused perspective; one-third to journal from a
relationship-focused perspective; and one-third to write anything
they wanted about the relationship's end. Participants journaled
for an average 8.5 minutes a day.

Then, the researchers reviewed all the journal entries and looked
for words linked to redemptive narratives and words linked to
cognitive reappraisal.

For example, one person who wrote in a redemptive-narrative style
said, "'I am really sad that we broke up, but maybe it's for the
best. I am better off without somebody who doesn't treat me
right." People who used cognitive processing included words like
"because," "think," and "should."

caption

Redemptive narratives won't eliminate emotional distress — but they could make it easier to deal with.

As
it turns out, cognitive processing and redemptive narratives
independently reduced the emotional distress people felt, which
the researchers measured using questionnaires. But redemptive
narratives were even more effective than cognitive processing.

In other words, as University of Massachusetts Amherst professor
of psychological and brain sciences Susan Krass Whitbourne writes
in a blog post for
Psychology Today:

The simple act of writing wasn't enough to cause change, nor was
the ability to reframe the relationship's ending in more
intellectual terms. Instead, it was the reshaping of memories of
the breakup, and the role the breakup played in the individual's
personal story, that seemed to reveal the silver lining.

Of course, this study lasted only four days, so it's unclear
whether redemptive narratives work to reduce emotional distress
in the long run.

It's also worth noting that the researchers didn't find that
redemptive narratives eliminated emotional distress -
just reduced it. So you probably shouldn't use this strategy
expecting to be relieved of your entire emotional burden.

That said, writing a redemptive narrative is a free and
relatively easy way to cope with a breakup - and if it's not
helping, you can always stop.